Abundance and Distribution of Elasmobranchs in NAFO Regulatory Area (Divisions 3MNO) (Elasmobranch Fisheries – Oral)

Abstract

Recently, the importance of elasmobranch fisheries has increased in the NAFO area due to the collapse of some important stocks like cod or American plaice; species like thorny skate are now one of the main resources in the NAFO Regulatory Area, especially in the Grand Bank. Nevertheless, in Flemish Cap (NAFO Div 3M), despite the weakness of the main stocks, elasmobranchs carry on being a resource without direct fishing that is mainly fished as by-catch. Since 1988 a bottom trawl survey was carried out by the European Community in Flemish Cap waters. Furthermore, since 1995, another trawl survey was also carried out in the Regulatory Area of the Grand Bank (NAFO, Div. 3NO); the goal of these surveys is collecting data for the assessment of the main species but these surveys are also an important source of information on biology and population dynamics of other fish species like elasmobranchs. The aim of this work is to show the present status and the recent changes in biomass of the main elasmobranch species in the areas covered by these surveys, with focus on their relative abundance, their spatial distribution and their size distribution. We have found out that thorny skate, that is the most important elasmobranchs in NAFO area, is widely distributed in both sampling areas without signs of stocks differentiation.